As last year's winner, Tadej Pogacar has dominated the Tour de France 2025 so far - despite the daily attacks by the Visma team led by Jonas Vingegaard, which has so far been unable to find a way to beat the world champion.
15.07.2025, 17:16
15.07.2025, 17:26
SDA
The first rest day on Tuesday in Toulouse came at just the right time for the exhausted peloton after the intense first ten days. The 112th edition of the Tour of France has so far been characterized by the courageous breakaway attempts of Irishman Ben Healy, the current holder of the maillot jaune, the strong performances of Mathieu van der Poel and the thrilling sprinter's duel between Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier.
But right from the start, there was also a tough war of nerves between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard's Visma Lease-a Bike team, which is trying to trap the world champion day after day - even before the start of the high mountain stages, which start on Thursday with the mountain arrival in Hautacam.
Pogacar has the upper hand
So far, this battle is clearly going in Pogacar's favor, who has already celebrated two stage wins. The Slovenian is in second place in the overall standings, 1:17 minutes ahead of Vingegaard, who had to pay for his unsuccessful individual time trial in Caen.
Since then, the Dane's team has been putting Pogacar under massive pressure, which seems to be increasingly annoying him. "They were a bit annoying with their constant attacks, so I decided to put one on myself - a better one," Pogacar told Slovenian media on Monday evening after the stage in the Massif Central, before remaining largely silent to the press.
"He's starting to get annoyed"
"I have the feeling that he's starting to get impatient. We're just trying to implement our plan to make life as difficult as possible for him," explained Belgian Victor Campenaerts, who joined the breakaway group on Monday to serve as a possible relay station for Vingegaard.
"We are the outsiders. So we have to be more creative than just riding as fast as possible on the last climb," added Sepp Kuss, who, like his American team-mate Matteo Jorgenson, also dared to attack in the peloton.
"We haven't managed to crack him yet. We don't know if and when that will happen, but we're waiting for our moment," continued Kuss. The aim of this guerrilla tactic is clear, says Visma sports director Grischa Niermann: "Isolate Pogacar". After all, his team UAE Emirates looks significantly weakened following the absence of João Almeida through injury and the poor form of Pavel Sivakov, who has been ill recently.
Incredibly strong
And indeed, Pogacar was on his own in the final on Monday. "But he is incredibly strong - the best rider in the world, perhaps even the best of all time. It's simply difficult to get rid of him," said Campenaerts.
Especially if Vingegaard doesn't deliver the final blow. On Monday, the Dane constantly stayed in Pogacar's slipstream without attempting an attack himself. "I know that I have to take time off him at some point," admitted the 2022 and 2023 Tour winner. However, Vingegaard first emphasized that he "can still keep up", which was not the case at the Tour of the Dauphiné in June.
His team is now focusing everything on the stages in the high mountains, Vingegaard's preferred terrain. He dominated Pogacar there two and three years ago, especially on the legendary stage to the Col du Granon. "We have some really strong climbers," announces Matteo Jorgenson.
Weaknesses eradicated
But Pogacar has developed further since then. He has almost eradicated two of his previous weaknesses, riding in the heat and at high altitudes, through targeted training. In addition, he rides tactically smarter, hardly wastes any energy, convinces with optimal positioning in the field and thus appears to be better equipped against collapses than before.
All in all, the three-time overall winner of the Tour de France seems to have reached the absolute peak of his performance at the age of 26. His aura of invincibility is forcing Team Visma to rethink its strategy. "If he stays this strong," admits sports director Niermann, "it will be very difficult to beat him."
